Link Between Pesticides & Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is a neurological disorder that is both chronic and progressive, characterized by tremors and deterioration of coordinated movement. Clinical trials have found a connection between Parkinson's disease and lifetime exposure to pesticides.

Potential

• Research concerning the link between pesticides and Parkinson's is in its infancy. In addition, there are numerous pesticides on the market today, making data collection a time-consuming task.

Types

• Studied pesticides include three main compounds: 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, an organic pesticide; paraquat, an herbicide; and permethrin, an insecticide.

Significance

• The aforementioned pesticides were found to negatively affect dopaminergic neurons, the same neurons that are also negatively affected in all persons with Parkinson's disease.

Expert Insight

• A study with 143,000 participants conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that people exposed to pesticides have a 70 percent higher chance of developing Parkinson's than people exposed to other toxic substances, such as formaldehyde.

Considerations

• Two percent of the adult population is at risk for Parkinson's disease; of that two percent, those exposed to pesticides increase the chances by approximately one percent.